The Tribune Group has a long and proud history as the voice of the centre left of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Labour Tribune MPs want to build on that heritage by initiating policy discussions and engaging with the wider Labour movement right across the UK. We will work with individuals and organisations that share our values and common goals, to develop ideas that will help inform and shape future debates around a wide range of policies.
» Find out more here

The escalating trade war between the US and China threatens to sweep the UK up in its wake. In spiralling reprisals these competing global powers have produced long lists of products which could face import tariffs.

Being the world's largest exporter, one product the US will try to avoid duties on is wood pellets. The prime importer of this commodity is the UK, followed some way behind by Denmark, South Korea, and Belgium. Most of these pellets are then burnt in biomass power plants like the Drax power station in Yorkshire, not far from my constituency of Leeds North West.

Seni Lewis, 23, lived with his parents in Thornton Heath. He was fit, healthy and, having recently graduated from university, had a bright future ahead. His parents found him one Sunday morning in a very agitated state which they quickly recognised as mental ill health.

Deeply worried, Seni’s parents took him to the local hospital and he was later transferred to a mental health hospital. They stayed with him until the evening and then went home.

After his parents left, Seni became very anxious and tried to leave. He resisted attempts by hospital staff to restrain him and they called the police. Eleven police officers took Seni into a seclusion unit with his arms handcuffed behind his head, his legs in shackles, and pinned him face-down on the floor until he suffered a heart attack and became unconscious. Shortly afterwards, Seni died.

This August marks two years since the world’s first childhood obesity plan was published here in the UK. However, it did not receive the attention and celebration you would expect for a ground-breaking strategy. It was published in the middle of summer recess, during the Olympics and on A-level results day, and appeared to be missing some pages. However, it was later confirmed that this world-first strategy really was just 13 pages long.

The plan was the perfect opportunity to really tackle childhood obesity in this country. But with the change of prime ministers, many of the ground-breaking policies that were expected to be in the plan were edited out by Theresa May and her team, with one of her former officials been reported to have boasted about saving Tony the Tiger, the Frosties mascot.

There is currently a childhood diet and obesity epidemic in the UK. The government needs to act decisively and take tough action to tackle the growing problem. The soft drinks industry levy, or “sugar tax”, has been an important and welcome tool to help fight the problem.

However, with one in five children obese by the age of 11, there is still much to do. One way I believe the government could help tackle this problem is by prohibiting the sale of energy drinks to anyone under the age of 16. That is why I recently led a Westminster Hall debate on the subject, to set out the evidence.